'Fantastic' Clarke-Salter sets culture at QPR - Cifuentes

Jake Clarke-Salter has played 56 games for QPR since joining the club from Chelsea in 2022

Centre-back Jake Clarke-Salter sets the example for the kind of culture QPR want at the club, says head coach Marti Cifuentes.

Cifuentes and the 27-year-old both signed new "long-term" contracts with the Hoops on Monday, with Kader Dembele's loan from Brest also made permanent.

Rangers sit in the Championship relegation zone with seven points from their first eight games and are without a win in four matches.

Clarke-Salter has been missing with injury for the last two games, both of which ended in defeat, but Cifuentes is pleased the defender has also committed his future to the club.

"Very happy because he's a fantastic football player, a very good guy in the changing room with fantastic leadership, with high demands, high standards," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

"I think he's one of the ones to set the kind of culture we want in this club.

"Obviously there are not many left-footed centre-halves in this league with his qualities, so it's very good news for the club, for me as a manager and for him because that shows he's committed with the project and what we're trying to do here."

Marti Cifuentes signed a new "long-term" contract with QPR earlier this week

Clarke-Salter joined the Hoops from Chelsea in 2022 and has made 56 appearances for the club, scoring once.

QPR face a Derby County side at Pride Park who have lost their last three league games after winning three of their opening five matches following their promotion from League One last season.

A win for the Hoops would see them overtake the Rams, currently eight places above them, in the table.

“We are aware that it [the game against Derby] comes in a moment where we want to get a positive result but it's exactly the same for them," Cifuentes added.

"We know that it's an intense week but we knew about the schedule and we know that we have some players missing because we got some injuries of very important players.

"We want to show that we can win again and get back on track."